EXO U to launch visual creation, collaboration tool at ISTE

The device-agnostic, Google Classroom-integrated, collaborative tool allows teachers and students to build lessons, activities, and interactive games

At ISTE 2016, EXO U Inc., a software development company, will launch Ormiboard, a front-of-class visual creation and collaboration tool. Ormiboard gives teachers and students the freedom to build lessons, activities, and interactive games for use in any classroom that has displays and/or mobile devices.

The device-agnostic Ormiboard goes beyond presenting and testing by opening up whole-class creation and participation. With ping-pong sharing and group collaboration, Ormiboard users create sessions where everyone can watch and participate in the lessons. In a classroom setting, teachers can select a screen from a student device and share it on the font-of-class display.

In seconds, teachers can fully integrate Ormiboard with Google Classroom, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, and other common resources. With browser-driven publishing, lessons are assigned links and can be sent to students using Google Classroom. Ormiboard users can also share their creations with anyone, anywhere in the world through an online marketplace.…Read More

The big events, keynotes, and 5 major trends at ISTE 2016

Are you heading to Denver? Here’s a quick look at what you’ll experience

Educators preparing to travel to Denver for ISTE 2016 can expect thought-provoking keynotes, interactive learning opportunities and more than 900 sessions at this year’s conference.

The annual event offers networking and professional development opportunities for educators from every discipline, education leaders, ed-tech coordinators, library and media specialists, and more. And while sessions and events run the full gamut of ed-tech topics, there are a handful of major themes that crop up again and again.

Playgrounds will feature hands-on learning opportunities that let attendees see, touch, hear and feel classroom solutions. Playground themes include Computational Thinking & Computer Science and Maker playgrounds on Sunday afternoon. Creativity, Digital StoryTelling, Early Learning, Ed Tech Coaches, and Games & Virtual Environments.…Read More

Lifeliqe Creator empowers teachers to create, publish interactive 3D content at ISTE

VR-enabled STEM models immerse students in a trip to space, a walk with a dinosaur, and a voyage through the inside of a shark

Lifeliqe, a learning and productivity platform for interactive 3D, VR, and AR, launched Lifeliqe Creator, a feature giving educators the power to create and publish interactive presentations and ebooks that integrate 3D models instead of 2D images.

Lifeliqe users can explore objects with interactive 3D views, zoom deep into the structure of the objects, experience augmented reality, view supplementary text on a subject, and change the language for a bilingual view in English and Spanish. With the Lifeliqe Creator feature, any of the 1,000 interactive 3D models can be dragged and dropped right into a presentation, ebook or lesson plan, so teachers can provide students with full, interactive 3D experiences.

“Lifeliqe Creator pushes the boundaries of publishing,” said Lifeliqe’s co-founder and CEO Ondrej Homola. “Embedding a real-time, interactive 3D model directly into a text document or a presentation takes it to another level. This enables teachers and students to create resources they have never been able to before, using 3D models instead of images.”…Read More

NEC Displays reveals interactive 4k touch displays

Large touch screen displays and more

NEC Display, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced today a robust set of 4K, data analytics and kiosk solutions on display with its strategic partners at InfoComm16.

With partner True Definition Network, NEC Display will demonstrate solutions with Moving Murals Ultra High-Definition 4K content on NEC UHD large screen displays, ranging from 55 inches to 98 inches.  Included in these solutions is a one-year subscription to 4K content, NEC Display’s Intel i5 powered OPS (Open Pluggable Specification) computer, and an NEC award winning UHD display.  These solutions make it easier for organizations and channel partners to adopt UHD displays and showcase amazing 4K content.  True Definition Network™ is an ever-growing marketplace of award-winning visual art, specifically optimized for integration with UHD/4K displays.

“The synergy between True Definition Network and NEC provides the perfect fusion of art and technology, delivering new-to-market design concepts and experiential visual solutions to discerning customers,” said Aaron W. Rees, CEO of True Definition Network™ LLC.  “We’re excited to be a part of NEC’s commitment to enhance client satisfaction and support customer demands in the adoption of UHD/4K displays in the marketplace.”…Read More

InFocus displays Mondopad and JTouch now feature ‘capacitive touch’

Interactive touchscreens are getting a 4k, mutli-touch upgrade

InFocus is adding premium capabilities, including projected capacitive touch and 4K resolution, to a variety of its interactive touchscreen and video conferencing solutions, the company announced today. InFocus created the original all-in-one video conferencing touchscreen solution and the company is once again defining the category by enabling the best image clarity and most intuitive multi-touch capabilities for professional and education environments.

InFocus 65-inch Capacitive Touch Mondopad

InFocus new 65-inch Mondopad, interactive 65-inch and 70-inch JTouch whiteboards, as well as the previously announced 40-inch JTouch whiteboard and 65-inch Canvas Touch are the first InFocus products to employ projected capacitive touch. The technology, used on leading smartphones and personal tablets, eliminates the need for a stylus and enables a more intuitive and responsive user experience. Unlike IR touchscreens, capacitive touch technology allows more touch points with faster response and bezel-free edge-to-edge glass, allowing for a brighter and sharper display, a sleek design and remarkably fluid multi-touch capabilities.…Read More

EXO U launches Ormiboard Pro Visual Creation Software

New whiteboarding software offers instant sharing to any student device, classroom management, and advanced interactivity building without an internet connection

At InfoComm 2016, EXO U Inc., a software development company, launched Ormiboard Pro, a visual creation and collaboration tool. Ormiboard Pro gives teachers and students the freedom to build lessons, activities, and interactive games for use in any classroom that has displays and/or mobile devices.

The device-agnostic Ormiboard Pro goes beyond presenting and testing by opening up whole-class creation and participation. With ping-pong sharing and group collaboration, Ormiboard Pro users create sessions where everyone can watch and participate in the lessons. In a classroom setting, teachers can select a screen from a student device and share it on the front-of-class display.

Ormiboard Pro is designed for schools and districts and is primarily offered through distribution channels. Ormiboard Pro is an installed software with a perpetual license and enables complete device integration and collaborative sharing over existing networks via local WIFI (no internet access required). Ormiboard Pro is optimized for fast speed and split-view capabilities for multi-touch panels and tables, and gives administrators dashboard control over building, classroom, teacher, user and content grouping.…Read More

How a telepresence robot is changing some classrooms

A new technology enables both interactive communication and observation capabilities with a telepresence robot platform

Thanks to recent strides in robotics and mobile devices, telepresence technology has opened up numerous possibilities at both the K-12 and higher-ed levels, where remote observation and communication can come in handy.

Educators and students are exploring a new way to remotely observe and interact with colleagues and peers with a telepresence robot that enables face-to-face communication.

Using Kubi, from Revolve Robotics, users download an app onto a tablet and connect the tablet to Kubi using Bluetooth. The tablet sits on a robotic platform. Other users can then “navigate” to Kubi with a browser. This lets them control the robot remotely over the web, including moving it for face-to-face communication.…Read More

Classroom displays new interactive learning technologies

New product suite creates an interactive, technology-rich environment

Boxlight, an interactive classroom technology manufacturer and K-12 education solutions provider, has partnered with Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn to create a showcase classroom that will enable K-12 teachers and students to experience the full capacity and impact of interactive instruction technologies.

The technology showcase will feature Boxlight’s patented, award-winning interactive classroom technology and the advanced classroom solutions from its recent acquisition, Mimio, one of the world’s leading providers of interactive teaching technologies. Visitors to the classroom will be able to see and experience the following products:

• An 84-inch 4K ProColor interactive flat panel display and integrated OPS computer that provides ultra high resolution and accommodates up to 10 points of touch for optimal classroom collaboration…Read More

Survey: Teachers now use twice as much gaming and video in the classroom

Annual survey reveals digital resources such as game-based environments and online videos have experienced increased use in classrooms

Teachers’ use of game-based environments and online apps has doubled in the last six years, according to the annual Speak Up survey released on May 5.

The national report, From Print to Pixel: The role of videos, games, animations and simulations within K-12 education, reveals that in 2010, only 23 percent of surveyed teachers said they used games, compared to 48 percent of those surveyed in 2015. In 2010, 47 percent of teachers said they used online videos, and that jumped to 68 percent of teachers in 2015.

“Many more schools are demonstrating greater use of digital content, tools and resources today than six years ago and we believe that the increasing adoption of interactive, visual media in the classroom by teachers is the driver for much of that change,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, in a press release. “The explosion in teacher interest and usage of videos and game-based learning could be a harbinger of a new awakening for digital learning.”…Read More

School leadership under the microscope

Catch up on the most compelling K-12 news stories you may have missed this week

Every Friday, I’ll recap some of the most interesting and thought-provoking news developments that occurred over the week.

I can’t fit all of this week’s news stories here, though, so feel free to visit eSchoolNews.com and read up on other news you may have missed.

Don’t miss our interactive thought leader interviews from ASU+GSV! Click here.…Read More

eSchool Media, Casey Green to host interactive interviews from ASU GSV Innovation Summit

Shindig, a platform for large-scale video chat, to power the three-day event

eSchool Media and Campus Computing announced plans for interactive Thought Leader Interviews at the 2016 ASU GSV Innovation Summit on April 18, 19 and 20 in San Diego.

The interactive interviews are intended to connect educators in schools and on college campuses with the Summit presenters and participants. Shindig, a turnkey solution for video chat teaching and events, will power the three day event, allowing moderator Casey Green, founding director of Campus Computing, and the interview participants to engage directly with the online audience.

The annual ASU GSV Innovation Summit brings together educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers, philanthropists, and university and school district leaders to create partnerships, explore solutions, and to shape the future of learning.…Read More